Sugiuchi, Iwakuma to duel in postseason opener

by Jim Allen (Oct 16, 2009)

Rakuten has given Tohoku its first postseason games and now it's
time for the Golden Eagles to make the most of the opportunity against
the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks as the Pacific League Climax Series' first
stage opens today in Sendai.

The Hawks' starting pitching has been a two-man show this season
with southpaw Toshiya Sugiuchi and right-hander D.J. Houlton. If the
five-year-old Eagles can win one of the first two games, they should be
able to score against whoever first-year SoftBank skipper Koji Akiyama
throws in Game 3.

If Sugiyama and Houlton can get the job done, the series may turn on pitching and defense.

"I think we will see pitchers' duels, and those will turn on
defense," Akiyama said. "If we don't make mistakes, we should get a
good result. We've come this far. Everything depends on doing their
jobs where they are in the field."

Sugiuchi will start Game 1 today against Eagles right-hander Hisashi
Iwakuma. Both are veterans of the World Baseball Classic and accustomed
to high-pressure games, while Sugiuchi was also the MVP of the 2003
Japan Series.

Sugiuchi has been the better of the two this season and has been
solid in eight of his last nine starts, while Iwakuma missed a few
starts between June and July and has rarely hit the highs that saw him
win the Sawamura and PL MVP awards last season.

Each team will be without a top run producer. The Eagles' Todd
Linden has been banished because manager Katsuya Nomura didn't like his
attitude, while the Hawks are without injured veteran slugger Nobuhiko
Matsunaka.

The Hawks offense is a little better as is their bullpen--rookie
Tadashi Settsu is the most consistent middle reliever for either team.
Despite the SoftBankers' lack of a dependable third starter, however,
the teams are evenly matched.

"I don't think you can base too much on how we matched up in the
season," Nomura said. "All we can do is take care of business. If
big-game experience is a factor, then we might be in trouble."